Numbers

How many people does it take I wonder, to run a Cathedral?

I do know that the Paris Opera needs 2500 and La Scala 1200, and that the "Damenschneiderei" in Munich (the ladies wardrobe) requires 41 and the same for the men, and that their wig and make-up department is 12 strong. The "petit mains" who do all of the detailed work on costume are the same as in a great fashion house and 6 or 8 of them are always with us as we go on stage. In Italy they are the 'Sarte" and we have to open the dressing room door and call "Sarta" if there is no bell to ring. It is they who bring the costumes down on racks in the morning and I sometimes then go in just to check on something. They get us into and out of them and are able if necessary, to do an instant repair. They follow us into the "gasse" or "quinte" (the wings) with water, and send a runner to order trays of food and espresso during rehearsal and performance. We NEVER use zips in theatre, and rarely hooks and eyes, always corseting, laces and buttons because these never get stuck during a fast change. For the same reasons we don't have lifts to our dressing rooms, but always stairs....hopefully not too many..... the costumes are heavy enough as it is. They are always made of the original fabrics so that they hang and move correctly and we are of course, very hot indeed! There is nothing that misses the eye of our dressers and wigmasters and they know all about us...almost as much as our coaches.

Nearly as hot as we are,"Les Machinistes"or"Machinisti" are the men who pull the ropes, 'flying' the scenery for the changes. They are often ex-sailors, doing the same task although in modern theatres this is done electrically (they still have to be there just in case) but, as my friend Laurent Gerber the French! Stage Manager at La Scala once said to me; "They do so much standing around waiting, that they know more about good singers than anyone else!"

                

                                                                          Ecco!